A rare case report of neonatal infective endocarditis with concomitant involvement of the mitral and tricuspid valves

Infective endocarditis (IE) in neonates is a rare condition associated with a significant amount of morbidity and mortality; the incidence of this condition appears to be on the rise; this is being attributed to an increase in invasive techniques in management of neonates with complex medical issues.The underlying mechanism behind neonatal IE is believed to be a combination of bacteremia and endothelial damage.The valve commonly affected in neonatal IE is the tricuspid valve; the mitral valve is generally spared; the involvement of both valves is uncommon and has been sparsely reported to occur amongst adults in the past.We present a rare case of neonatal IE where both mitral and tricuspid valves were affected, the possible mechanism being paradoxic septic emboli passing into the left side of the heart via a patent foramen ovale.